Sippy cups, or drinking devices suitable for use by young children, are designed to contain a liquid and allow for the controlled release of the liquid in a manner responsive to the action of a user. For example, a sippy cup which includes a straw having a one-way valve will not release the liquid from the cup until suction is applied to the straw. The applied suction opens the one-way valve allowing the liquid to flow through the straw and out of the cup. When no suction is applied, the one-way valve remains closed and the liquid remains within the cup. Due to their fluid release control characteristics, sippy cups are typically used to help a child develop the fine motor skills needed to drink from a cup without spilling. Since young children have not yet developed these motor skills, these cups have to be spill and leak resistant, easy to use, as well as provide some tactile stimulation to encourage the child to drink. Moreover, these cups need to be relatively strong and durable in order to provide some protection from the child spilling the liquid from the cup.
At present, a number of manufacturers produce a variety of non-disposable sippy cup designs with an enhanced leak resistance capability, a soft touch effect for tactile stimulation and sufficient strength and durability. These sippy cup designs provide a cup having a removable cup lid for filling and re-filling the cup with liquid. However, because sippy cups are often filled, and then re-filled or ‘topped-off’, with drinks that have a high sugar content, such as juice or milk, the sippy cup provides an excellent environment for bacterial colonization and propagation. This increases the likelihood of the child developing an illness caused by bacterial colonization of the liquid in the cup prior to re-filling.
Most of the sippy cups are manufactured by an injection molding process in order to acquire sufficient strength and durability. Although the injection molding process creates a strong and durable cup, these cups are typically expensive to manufacture and are thus non-disposable. In addition, these cups are difficult to clean, difficult to stack and inconvenient for parents to transport away from home due to the number of cups required and the maintenance required to keep these cups clean. These injection molded cups may also include over-molded or dual shot molded features for decoration and soft touch effects adding to the cost, maintenance and transportability problem. Furthermore, most existing sippy cup designs include relatively thick walls and are of a fairly heavy construction. As such, even though a cup may be disposable, consumers may not feel that it is disposable and thus may be hesitant to discard the cup.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a truly disposable and inexpensive single use sippy cup which may be easily transported and discarded after use.